Career and Education Opportunities for Police Records Officers in Charlotte, North Carolina

Police records officers can find both educational opportunities and jobs in the Charlotte, North Carolina area. Currently, 2,790 people work as police records officers in North Carolina. This is expected to grow by 28% to 3,570 people by 2016. This is better than the national trend for police records officers, which sees this job pool growing by about 16.6% over the next eight years. In general, police records officers collect evidence at crime scenes, classify and identify fingerprints, and photograph evidence for use in criminal and civil cases.

The income of a police records officer is about $21 hourly or $43,750 yearly on average in North Carolina. In the U.S. as a whole, their income is about $29 per hour or $60,910 yearly on average. Police records officers earn more than people working in the category of Police and Security generally in North Carolina and more than people in the Police and Security category nationally. Police records officers work in a variety of jobs, including: latent fingerprint examiner, forensic specialist, and accident investigator.

The Charlotte area is home to forty-three schools of higher education, including five within twenty-five miles of Charlotte where you can get a degree as a police records officer. Police records officers usually hold a high school diploma or GED, so you can expect to spend only a short time studying to be a police records officer if you already have a high school diploma.

CAREER DESCRIPTION: Police Records Officer

In general, police records officers collect evidence at crime scenes, classify and identify fingerprints, and photograph evidence for use in criminal and civil cases.

Police records officers testify in court and present evidence. They also package, store and retrieve evidence. Equally important, police records officers have to dust selected areas of crime scene and lift latent fingerprints, adhering to proper preservation procedures. They are often called upon to photograph crime or accident scenes for evidence records. They are expected to look for trace evidence, such as fingerprints or shoe impressions, using alternative light sources when needed. Finally, police records officers submit evidence to supervisors.

Every day, police records officers are expected to be able to see details at a very fine level of focus. They need to solve different sorts of problems in different ways depending upon circumstances. It is also important that they piece together evidence to, in some sense, diagnose what is going on in a situation.

It is important for police records officers to serve as technical advisor and direct with other law enforcement staff to share data on crime scene collection efforts. They are often called upon to perform emergency work during off-hours. They also identify and file fingerprints, using systems such as the Henry Classification system. Somewhat less frequently, police records officers are also expected to process film and prints from crime or accident scenes.

And finally, they sometimes have to process film and prints from crime or accident scenes.

Like many other jobs, police records officers must have exceptional integrity and be reliable.

Similar jobs with educational opportunities in Charlotte include:

Chief of Police. Supervise and coordinate activities of members of police force.

Criminal Investigator. Investigate alleged or suspected criminal violations of Federal, state, or local laws to determine if evidence is sufficient to recommend prosecution.

Customs Inspector. Investigate and inspect persons, common carriers, and merchandise, arriving in or departing from the United States or between states to detect violations of immigration and customs laws and regulations.

Private Investigator. Detect occurrences of unlawful acts or infractions of rules in private establishment, or seek, examine, and compile information for client.

Sheriff. Enforce law and order in rural or unincorporated districts or serve legal processes of courts. May patrol courthouse, guard court or grand jury, or escort defendants.

Transportation Security Officer. Inspect baggage or cargo and screen passengers to detect and prevent potentially dangerous objects from being transported into secure areas or onto aircraft.

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES: Police Records Officer Training

Catawba Valley Community College - Hickory, NC

Catawba Valley Community College, 2550 Hwy 70 SE, Hickory, NC 28602-0699. Catawba Valley Community College is a small college located in Hickory, North Carolina. It is a public school with primarily 2-year programs and has 5,011 students. Catawba Valley Community College has a less than one year program in Criminal Justice/Police Science which graduated twenty students in 2008.

Gaston College - Dallas, NC

Gaston College, 201 Hwy 321 S, Dallas, NC 28034. Gaston College is a medium sized college located in Dallas, North Carolina. It is a public school with primarily 2-year programs and has 5,557 students. Gaston College has a less than one year and an associate's degree program in Criminal Justice/Police Science which graduated forty and zero students respectively in 2008.

Mitchell Community College - Statesville, NC

Mitchell Community College, 500 W Broad Street, Statesville, NC 28677-5293. Mitchell Community College is a small college located in Statesville, North Carolina. It is a public school with primarily 2-year programs and has 2,911 students. Mitchell Community College has a less than one year and an associate's degree program in Criminal Justice/Police Science which graduated twenty-seven and six students respectively in 2008.

Central Piedmont Community College - Charlotte, NC

Central Piedmont Community College, 1201 Elizabeth Avenue, Charlotte, NC 28204. Central Piedmont Community College is a large college located in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is a public school with primarily 2-year programs and has 16,536 students. Central Piedmont Community College has a less than one year program in Criminal Justice/Police Science.

Rowan-Cabarrus Community College - Salisbury, NC

Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, 1333 Jake Alexander Blvd, Salisbury, NC 28146-1595. Rowan-Cabarrus Community College is a medium sized college located in Salisbury, North Carolina. It is a public school with primarily 2-year programs and has 5,876 students. Rowan-Cabarrus Community College has a less than one year program in Criminal Justice/Police Science which graduated forty-eight students in 2008.

CERTIFICATIONS

Certified Medical Investigator:
The spectrum of professions involved in forensic investigation has broadened dramatically over the past 20 years.

Certified Corrections Manager - Security Threat Groups:
Individuals who head a Security Threat Group (STG) program in an adult or juvenile corrections facility, contribute to the development of agency policies/procedures pertaining to STGs, and are involved in the implementation of these policies/procedures.

Computer Forensics:
The primary goals we have for our certification programs are to both assist law enforcement and organizations requiring highly skilled investigators in the identification of highly skilled individuals, and to promote the training and education efforts within the computer investigation, computer forensic and computer security industries.

LOCATION INFORMATION: Charlotte, North Carolina

Charlotte, North Carolina photo by Alaskan Assassin

Charlotte is located in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. It has a population of over 687,456, which has grown by 27.1% over the last ten years. The cost of living index in Charlotte, 86, is well below the national average.

The three big industries for women in Charlotte are health care, finance and insurance, and educational services. For men, it is construction, finance and insurance, and professional, scientific, and technical services. The average commute to work is about 25 minutes. More than 36.4% of Charlotte residents have a bachelor's degree, which is higher than the state average. The percentage of residents with a graduate degree, 10.5%, is higher than the state average.

The unemployment rate in Charlotte is 9.7%, which is less than North Carolina's average of 10.6%.

The percentage of Charlotte residents that are affiliated with a religious congregation, 48.0%, is less than the national average but more than the state average. New Hampton Church, New Emmanuel Church and New East Stonewall Church are all churches located in Charlotte. The largest religious groups are the Southern Baptist Convention, the Catholic Church and the United Methodist Church.

Charlotte is home to the Crown Point Plaza and the Providence Square as well as Kilborne District Park and Little Rock Road District Park. Shopping malls in the area include Heckinger Shopping Center, Hampshire Hills Shopping Center and Providence Village Shopping Center. Visitors to Charlotte can choose from American Motel, Extended Stay America - Charlotte/Tyvola and Drury Inn and Suites Charlotte for temporary stays in the area.